Paris In Sites Newsletter
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Direct From France
Edited by Linda Thalman
Tennessus Castle – Château de Tennesus
http://www.tennessus.com/
Bed and breakfast vacation rentals and the self-catering West Tower.
Magnificent 14th-century castle complete with moat, working drawbridge, arrow-slits and battlements.


Paris In Sites Newsletter

Sand Surfing in Picardy and Sailing in Normandy
By Linda Thalman

We spent a weekend in Fort Mahon Plage in Picardie, exploring the beach Linda sand surfing at Fort Mahon beach September 2002 and bay area of the Authie, north of the Somme.

Hunters were hunting ducks, beachcombers were scavengering for interesting pieces of wood, folks were walking their dogs, some were digging for mussels.

And then for the sand surfing challenge...

Wouldn't you be frightened if asked to jump in a 'tank with sail' that has no seat belt or life boat?

I was scared out of my wits for the first two test runs along the beach Dieppe cliffs and sea September 2002 in my yellow bathtub! But what fun once you get the hang of it and you mustn't worry about getting soaked head to toe with sea, sand and salt.

I'm not really sure what char à voile is called in English, but this 3-wheeled machine with a sail was amazingly fun to drive... fly... sail?

Two weeks later we headed for Dieppe in Normandy for a sailing class on a 10.6 meter boat. While fully trained following my successful sand surfing, I was still not prepared for handling a boat in the English Channel!

Memories of a very frightening topsy turvy sailing weekend a couple of years ago didn't do much to calm my nerves.

Yet, a one in a thousand days picture perfect weekend of clear, calm, warm weather made our weekend sailing lessons down right enjoyable.

Dieppe sailing class September 2002

Dieppe comes from the English word 'deep' and it is the closest seaside city to Paris. It's a charming town with a lovely port for pleasure craft and one for commercial fishing boats.

Here's an extract in French from: http://www.normandy-tourism.org/ and you'll find the site in English, French, German, Dutch) for lots more information on Normandy.

"L'Estuaire de l'Arques, autrefois dénommée la Deep, avait offert un mouillage sûr depuis l'Antiquité. Les galets accumulés au débouché de la vallée, permirent un cheminement entre mer et marécages et peu à peu une ville se créa, sur un tracé "naturel" qui existe encore aujourd'hui.

Doyenne des stations balnéaires, la ville ancienne, qu'on découvre au haut de la falaise, a gardé son tracé moyenâgeux, bien qu'elle ait été reconstruite à la fin du XVllème siècle à la suite d'un incendie qui ruina Dieppe. L'histoire et l'économie de la ville sont profondément liées à la pêche et à la navigation. Ville portuaire, Dieppe recevait de nombreuses marchandises, des épices et surtout de l'ivoire. Le développement de la sculpture sur ivoire et la prospérité de cet artisanat qui subit les aléas de l'histoire, contribuèrent à la renommée de la ville."

PICARDIE
Conseil Régional de Picardie
http://www.cr-picardie.fr/uk/page.cfm?pageref=tourisme~tourisme_01
11, Mail Albert 1er
B.P. 2616 - 80026 Amiens Cedex 1
Phone: 03 22 97 37 37
Email: Webmaster@cr-picardie.fr

HAUTE NORMANDIE
Comité Régional de Tourisme de Normandie
http://www.normandy-tourism.org/
14, rue Charles Corbeau - F27000 Evreux - France
Phone: 33 (0)2 32 33 79 00

Photo Album

Fort Mahon September 2002 Dieppe September 2002

Linda sailing September 2002 Linda and Pierre sailing September 2002

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